Outcome

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Intention

This project is to create a little wind detector for me and my roommate. We always look at the weather forecast to decide what to wear tomorrow, but we cannot feel how big the wind is. This little device can help users have an overall understanding of how big the wind is so that they can prepare their outwear.

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Goal

Since the sensor is a flex sensor, I want it to send the bending information to the LED light to inform users about the real-time windy situations outside. Then people can prepare what to wear outside when looking at the LED signal on the device. Less bending means there is less wind, and the light will be blue. More bending means more dramatic wind and the light will blink red.

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Process

I followed the tutorial to install the flex sensor and used a small LED light as the indicator in the beginning. It can show how the pressure changes with dimmer or brighter of the red light. However, I don't think it is obvious enough.

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I already have a soldered Neopixel LED from the bootcamp. It can be a good indicator since I can easily change the color of the light and it should also be able to be turned on and off. And in this case, I want the LED turns blue if there is intense pressure applied on the sensor (indicating the big wind and it can be really cold). On the other hand, the LED should turn red if the pressure is small. There are many challenges. I coulnd't get the code right, and the circuit didn't work out well either. But luckily after help from out TAs I noticed that one of my indicators was wrong. Then things worked out perfectly.

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Screen shot 2019 01 31 at 3.46.48 pm

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On the particle website, the force data can be tracked clearly.

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Parts used:

1. 11 Jumpwires

2. 1 Breadboard

3. 1 Flex Sensor

4. 1 Testing LED

5. 1 Neopixel LED

6. 2 Resistors

7. a pushbutton

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Outcome

So finally, I created this little wind detector. The LED can change color from red to blue suggesting the intensity of wind outside so my potential users don't need to open the window and feel themselves. The wind was not that stable so the light color is shaking a little bit.

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// This #include statement was automatically added by the Particle IDE.
#include <neopixel.h>


// IMPORTANT: Set pixel COUNT, PIN and TYPE
#define PIXEL_COUNT 1
#define PIXEL_PIN D6
#define PIXEL_TYPE WS2812B
Adafruit_NeoPixel strip(PIXEL_COUNT, PIXEL_PIN, PIXEL_TYPE);
// Define a pin that we'll place the FSR on
// Remember to add a 10K Ohm pull-down resistor too.

int redValue = 255; // Full brightness for an ANODE RGB LED is 0, and off 255
int greenValue = 255; // Full brightness for an ANODE RGB LED is 0, and off 255
int blueValue = 255; // Full brightness for an ANODE RGB LED is 0, and off 255</td>

int flexPin = A0;

// Create a variable to hold the FSR reading
int flexReading;


// Our button wired to D0
int buttonPin = D3;


// Define a pin we'll place an LED on
int ledPin = D2;

// Create a variable to store the LED brightness.
int ledBrightness = 0;

// Our button wired to D0
int buttonPin = D3;

void setup() {
     // Set up the LED for output
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(PIXEL_PIN, OUTPUT);
  
   // Create a cloud variable of type integer
  // called 'light' mapped to photoCellReading
  Particle.variable("force", &flexReading, INT);
  strip.begin();

  pinMode( buttonPin , INPUT_PULLUP); // sets pin as input

  // We also want to use the LED

  pinMode( ledPin , OUTPUT ); // sets pin as output
  
   
 

}




void loop() {
     // Use analogRead to read from the sensor
  // This gives us a value from 0 to 4095
  flexReading = analogRead(flexPin);

  // Map this value into the PWM range (0-255)
  // and store as the led brightness
  ledBrightness = map(flexReading, 0, 160, 0, 255);
  setRGBColor( ledBrightness,0,(256 - ledBrightness)); 
  // fade the LED to the desired brightness
  analogWrite(ledPin, ledBrightness);

  // wait 1/10th of a second and then loop
  delay(100);
  
  // // First... On
//   digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);   // Turn ON the LED pins
//   delay(500);               // Wait for 1000mS = 1 second

//   // Now... Off
//   digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);   // Turn OFF the LED pins
//   delay(3000);               // Wait for 1000mS = 1 second
//   // rinse + repeat

 // find out if the button is pushed
   // or not by reading from it.
   int buttonState = digitalRead( buttonPin );

  // remember that we have wired the pushbutton to
  // ground and are using a pulldown resistor
  // that means, when the button is pushed,
  // we will get a LOW signal
  // when the button is not pushed we'll get a HIGH

  // let's use that to set our LED on or off

  if( buttonState == LOW )
  {
    // turn the LED On
    digitalWrite( ledPin, HIGH);
  }else{
    // otherwise
    // turn the LED Off
    digitalWrite( ledPin, LOW);

  }

}

void setRGBColor( int r, int g, int b ){
	
  redValue = r;
  greenValue = g;
  blueValue = b;
	
  strip.setPixelColor(0, redValue, greenValue, blueValue);
  strip.show();
}

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Next Steps

I want to make it more intelligent, and I think it should also be connected to the phone so that people can set some customized ranges and get notifications for super crazy weather conditions. It can be connected to Twilio to be a conversational bot (like what we did for Programming for Online Prototype class).

Plus, there can be more form explorations for my wind detector too. It can be a small decoration at home, like a Christmas light or small bedside lamp.

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Reflection

My technical limitations definitely restrict my ability to make the project more creative. It has so much potential if I can connect more sensors to it ( a more active reaction such as alert alarm or vibrations, etc.). Also, after the real scenario testing, the light color might not be stable and I realized that a more dynamic color range needs to be added for an accurate forecast.

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References and Acknowledgements

https://diotlabs.daraghbyrne.me/docs/working-with-sensors

https://diotlabs.daraghbyrne.me/docs/a-simple-internet-appliance

Big thank you to Daragh, Dylan, Taylor, Robert, Cem

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